The
nation’s
oldest primate sanctuary, Primarily Primates
of Northwest Bexar County, is
welcoming back three gibbons after settling a case with two other
sanctuaries.
The
three
gibbons were part of a group of 12 that was adopted by the International Primate
Protection League after a 2006 Texas lawsuit found that more
than 700 animals
were living in unacceptable conditions.
The
conditions
at Primarily Primates, which according to a petition filed by Texas
Attorney General Greg
Abbott included pools of untreated sewage,
substandard veterinary
care, inadequate food and water, and overcrowded cages, led to the
transfer of
a number of animals in late March 2007. Those transferred included the
12 gibbons, which were
taken to the International Primate Protection League sanctuary, in
Summerville,
South Carolina, and the two chimpanzees, which were housed in Bend,
Oregon, at
Chimps, Inc.
In
the wake of
this lawsuit, Friends of Animals, an international non-profit group,
took over
Primarily Primates, and the group’s president, Priscilla
Feral, assumed the
position of Chairman of the Board at Primarily Primates. Friends of Animals
had
been the major donor to the facility for over 20 years at the time of
the take
over according to Nancy Scott Jones, a public relations spokesperson
for
Primarily Primates.
The
state of
Texas decided to drop its case against Primarily Primates in May 2007,
stating
that conditions had improved under this new supervision.
The
adopting
centers paid for the transfer of the animals, built special habitats to
house
them and provided them with veterinary care that included
rehabilitation and
recovery from the abuses that allegedly occurred at Primarily Primates.
Primarily
Primates asked for the return of the animals claiming that –
under its new
management – the sanctuary had been improved and was now able
to house the
animals.
The
adopting
facilities still had their doubts, however, so in June 2007, Chimps,
Inc. and
the IPPL filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon
– near
Chimps, Inc. – to keep the animals at their new homes. In the
suit they claimed
that the animals had been living "in filth" and that the Primarily
Primates
site was "no better than a warehouse to hold these animals until they
die."
"The
facility
still doesn't have cages suitable for gibbons," Shirley McGreal,
founder of the
IPPL, told a South Carolina paper last year. "For instance, gibbons
live high
up in trees. The cages in Texas were about 7 feet tall. The cages near
Summerville have spaces that are 20 feet tall."
Jones
said the old habitats for the gibbons had been renovated, and that
they were now living in a two-section living space so that the animals
would be
able to separate themselves from the group if they desired.
Feral
said that
Primarily Primates’ staff had doubled the space available for
the gibbons,
added a series of tunnels to their habitat and extending the overhead
space for
the animals. She added that more renovations were planned for the
gibbon’s
habitat. She also commented that while IPPL’s trees were
taller, the new
gibbons’ habitat at Primarily Primates is twice as long as
IPPL’s.
The
2008 settlement keeps the two chimpanzees, Emma and
Jackson, at Chimps, Inc., to avoid displacing of them during
adolescence.
"We want Emma and Jackson to have a
happy life," Feral said. "We will always miss them; but we're confident
they will enjoy a place of
permanent safety."
Management at
Chimps, Inc. was also was also satisfied by
this result.
“I’m
thrilled with the settlement. That means that Emma and
Jackson can stay with us forever,” Paula Muellner, executive
director at
Chimps, Inc., told the Houston Chronicle.
The nine
gibbons that did not return to Primarily Primates
remained at IPPL. Stephen Tello, the director of Primarily Primates,
returned
the other three gibbons to the sanctuary June 3, after a two-day trip.
Feral stressed
the importance of reuniting the three gibbons
with the one who had remained behind, saying, “That to me was
more important
than anything else.”
Feral lamented
that the single gibbon would sing, a form of
communication between gibbons, but without any other gibbons around to
answer
it, the solo had a lonely quality.
Feral said
that while she believed that Primarily Primates
would have won the suit, it was more important to settle to ensure the
well-being of the animals as quickly as possible. It was also important
to her
that the community of organizations remain intact, saying, “We also believe that
reaching a settlement agreement
allows us to move ahead and foster harmony in the sanctuary
community,” in a
post on the group’s website.
Jones said that
“the gibbons are doing well,” and that they had
been checked by the vet and
were in good health. Feral added that “they're eating
well” and that “they're
exercising.”
Primarily
Primates is currently engaged in another lawsuit over the return of
animals,
with the Chimp Haven
sanctuary in Shreveport, Louisiana. Feral said that
Primarily Primates had won the initial hearing and that she expected
them to
win in the appeal’s process as well, having the animals back
by late summer.
Animals
were
also taken to the Wildlife
Rescue & Rehabilitation center in Kendalia, Texas,
after the 2006 lawsuit. According to Lynn Cuny, executive director at
WRR, the
sanctuary met with Feral after the lawsuit and a verbal agreement was
made that
the animals would remain at WWR.
According
to
Feral, Primarily Primates is an organization that is not government
funded and
relies heavily on the donations of individuals and other organizations.
The
recent lawsuits have dampened fund raising efforts.
“The
reputation
of the organization was severely damaged, and donations dropped
off,” Feral
said in a recent interview. “Certainly the contributions are
not what they were
several years ago.”
Friends
of
Animals is now the parent company of Primarily Primates. In the past
year the
organization has spent $1.5 million at Primary Primates. Friends of
Animals
also paid the legal costs that Primarily Primates accrued in the 2006
lawsuit.
Primarily
Primates currently houses 327 primates
and about 700 400
[corrected, 6/19] animals in all on its premises.
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